Glitch

The area where the fountain is located lost power recently. The security cameras there aren’t working, so Regan and Elliot can speak freely. Regan reads the Cocoon for the first time. Elliot is mad at the future version of Regan for putting his name on the Cocoon and implicating him. He’s also disappointed that the present version of Regan doesn’t understand the letter any better than he does and can’t answer any of his questions. Elliot is reluctant to take the letter seriously because he wants to advance to the next level in school, and he can’t imagine what sort of consequences this could cause. Regan, on the other hand, takes the letter very seriously because she doesn’t care if Elliot advances or not. She also doesn’t want to risk the lives of her mom or teachers, even though she doesn’t have friends. The competitive structure of the academy discourages friendship, and since Regan lives in the house with her mom instead of the dorms like most other kids, she has even less camaraderie with her classmates than most. Regan longs for a friend.

Regan and Elliot hear footsteps, so they hide behind a statue in the fountain. The Cocoon dissolves in the water. With the physical evidence gone, Elliot decides to ignore everything the Cocoon said and plans to win his test tomorrow so he can advance to the next level. Regan asks him to reconsider due to the letter’s warning, but he doesn’t care.

Elliot returns to his room and falls asleep reading at his desk. He sleeps in, then rushes to get to the simulation test on time in the morning. To his surprise, the student he’s competing against is Regan.

After the previous night’s conversation with Elliot, Regan had told her mom she wanted to take a simulation test after all. Her mom said she had to pass the Lincoln assassination first, so Regan woke up early to retry it. She used the first clue from the bulleted list in the Cocoon to pass the simulation—it alerted her that the Butterfly would be hiding “behind the curtains” (101). After that, Regan realized the bulleted list was full of important clues. She tries to recreate the rest of the list on paper but can’t remember the whole thing verbatim. She then goes to the room where her simulation test against Elliot will take place. She’s not sure how she’s going to beat him, but she has to try because it’s a matter of life and death.

Simulation tests are different from basic practice simulations, where students are told which event and time period they’ll be visiting ahead of time so they can study. In a simulation test, this information isn’t revealed ahead of time. Like regular simulations, students are disguised appropriately for the time period, and if they get hurt in the test, they won’t be hurt in real life.

Elliot opens his eyes in a simulated version of the Boston Tea Party. He doesn’t see Regan anywhere, but he mimics what the men around him are doing so he can blend in. The men are part of the Sons of Liberty group, and they’re disguising themselves by rubbing ash on their skin and wrapping blankets around themselves, pretending to be Indigenous people from the Mohawk tribe. Elliot feels like this is lucky because he’s Black, which may have otherwise made him stand out during this event. Elliot follows the other men toward the ships.

Regan opens her eyes in the simulated past and doesn’t know where she is, although she notices she’s wearing men’s clothing. There’s a meeting going on where men are discussing the “British East India Company” (115) and taxation in the colonies, so she realizes the Boston Tea Party is about to occur. People start leaving the meeting, and Regan follows the crowd toward the harbor so she can apprehend the Butterfly before Elliot does.

Elliot hasn’t spotted the Butterfly, nor can he imagine how the Butterfly plans to stop the Boston Tea Party from occurring since so many people are involved. Elliot helps the rest of the men on the ship unbox tea and throw it into the water. He spots Regan boarding the ship and gets distracted, cutting his leg with a hatchet. Regan helps him control the bleeding so he doesn’t cause a scene. She then goes below deck, seemingly having identified the Butterfly.

Regan uses the second clue from the Cocoon’s list to find the Butterfly; it lets her know he’d be below the deck. She follows him and sees him lighting a modern-day lighter, confirming her suspicion that he’s the Butterfly. He’s lighting the ship on fire, and now, even if she catches him, his actions will alter history forever. The Butterfly notices Regan and runs away. The fire starts spreading, and Regan feels water hit her back. She turns to see Elliot, who actually threw waste from a chamber pot, but it’s still helping put out the fire. Regan hits him, and they stumble into some other people. Together, Elliot and Regan spot the Butterfly again and capture him.

Elliot opens his eyes back at school. He’s furious that Regan hit him and wants her to be disqualified. Instead of doing the recap in front of a panel of teachers like usual, Regan’s mom wants to have the recap in her office with a certain teacher, whom Elliot doesn’t recognize. Elliot assumes this is a bad sign and that maybe they found out about the Cocoon somehow.

Regan also doesn’t recognize the professor who is in her mom’s office with them. Regan’s mom says neither student “won” the test, and Elliot won’t be advancing to the next level. Instead, they want both Regan and Elliot to move to a different branch of the Academy. The mysterious professor, Professor Callaway, works in this branch, which trains Glitchers to work as partner teams rather than individuals. This program is relatively new, very small, and a secret, but it’s been highly successful. Professor Callaway says Elliot and Regan earned a high compatibility score due to their complementary strengths and weaknesses. Whereas Elliot is a history expert, his intuition is weak. Whereas Regan has trouble remembering historical facts, her intuition is strong and she can quickly identify Butterflies, even if there are no historical discrepancies in their costumes. Elliot and Regan will be starting the new program tomorrow, and since they’re a team, a failure for one of them is a failure for both. They aren’t allowed to decline the offer to join the new program, nor are they allowed to switch partners. If they fail at the new program, they won’t be able to return to the normal Academy. They will also have to move to a different, nearby location.